I should have apologized
by Mega07ghost
Summary: After Charlie had a fight with Amita and Larry the two of them get kidnapped. Can Charlie save them with Don's help?
1. Chapter 1

This is my new story. It will probably take some time until I update new chapters, but I'm going to write it.

I hope you'll like it.

The story would probably play in season 5. Charlie just got his clearence back. He might sometimes seem out of character.

Chapter 1

"Look...it's not like I WANT your plan to fail, it just WILL!", Charlie was trying his best to explain his girlfriend that her plan to solve Don's case wouldn't work. His own idea was way better and he would use it. "Charles, I would not make this decision too fast. Amita's idea is not bad. Itcould work." Larry tried to support Amita, but Charlie was not convinced. And he was annoyed by the discussion.

"It WON'T work! Why can't you just listen to me?! Your plan is bad, Amita! Don't you understand?!"

Amita looked at her boyfriend, tears filled her eyes. He called it BAD... Charlie called her idea bad. She couldn't hold back her tears so she let them stream down her face and ran out of the room. Charlie sighed and turned around to face his blackboard. "What has gone into you?" Larry glared at his friend. Charlie turned back to Larry.

"Come on, Larry... we both know that Amita's plan was not good..."

"She ran out of this room...crying!"

"So what do you want me to do?"

Charlie was in his own world again, not caring for other's feelings.

"You, my friend, should go after her!"

"Larry... I have to find a killer! I have no time right now! And if you don't understand that... then you're an idiot!" Larry's mouth fell open and he left the room.

Charlie ignored it and worked on the case again. Maybe he was not friendly right now, but he'd apologize later.

At the same time:

"Are you okay, Amita?", Larry found his friend in her office. She was wiping away her tears and sniffed once again before she answered: "Yes... I'm fine. Thank you, Larry."

Amita looked disappointed, but Larry smiled softly.

"I'm sorry, my dear. You probably hoped that Charles was coming for you, right?"

Amita nodded and looked to the ground.

"But I'm glad that you came to comfort me."

Larry sighed and fell into a nearby chair.

"It seems like our young friend wasn't in the mood to discuss."

"He just wants to use his own ideas, that's all.", Amita answered.

"Maybe that's the reason why he called me an 'idiot'."

"He what?" Amita stared at Larry with huge eyes. But he just waved his hand in a 'I-don't-really-take-it-serious' way.

Meanwhile Charlie was talking to Don at the FBI. He explained his plan to find the criminal who murdered five persons until now.

" What about Amita? Didn't she have a plan too?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but it was a really bad idea." Don rose his eyebrow. "And that's what you said to her? That her plan is bad?" His brother nodded. "That's exactly what I told her, Don. And you know what? Larry even tried to support her idea!"

Don shook his head. "Charlie, are you dumb? Of course Larry supported her. If you really said it exactly like you told me , I can understand it. Was she disappointed?"

"She... ran out of the room.", Charlie had to admit. Don facepalmed himself. "Then why are you here and not with her? You should apologize!"

Charlie was confused. "Ehm... I thought it'd be more important to give you the information to find a cruel killer?!", he yelled at his big brother.

"Well... of course it's important, but don't forget the people dear to you!"

Charlie gulped. Don continued a bit calmer: "What did Larry say about your behaviour?"

The younger brother just made a 'tzz'.

"He said I'm wrong."

"What did you do?" Charlie looked down. "I...I called him ... an idiot."

"Charlie!"

"I know, I know! I'm going to apologize."

Don nodded glad.

"Okay. Let's use your plan now..."

At the same time Amita and Larry had started working on a physics problem. In the last time the two of them had become good friends and spent much time together.

"You should think about the gravity first.", Larry reminded Amita and she scrabbled down some things.

In this moment two men entered them room. They were tall and didn't look really friendly.

"Ehm... are you professors Fleinhardt and Ramanujan?"

The two professors looked up.

"Yeah...we are.", Amita answered. She was careful, because she didn't trust the guys.

"And...you are?", Larry asked while he and Amita stood up. "That's not really important right now. We need you to come with us.", one of the men answered and walked towards Amita who took a step back. Larry walked in front of her. "First you don't tell us who you are and now you want us to come with you?"

The other guy joined his partner and pulled Amita away from Larry. Amita wanted to scream, but the man pressed a cloth on her mouth and his partner did the same with Larry. It didn't take long until they lost consciousness.

A/N: That's it for now. You liked it?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the review ^^

I forgot to mention: Numb3rs and its characters don't belong to me. All rights go to their original owners.

Chapter 2

On the next morning Charlie stood in his brother's office again. He looked like he was concerned about something. "Don, I...I...", he was quite nervous. Don helped him to sit down.

"Hey Charlie, calm down. What happened?", he started and his brother looked at him with huge eyes. "I didn't call them, Don. And they didn't call either. I'm worried. One day... That's a long time."

"You didn't call them or visited?!" Don couldn't believe it. "I wanted... I really wanted, but you know that I hate to admit if I make a mistake.", Charlie explained. "Also I worked on a few problems for you.", he continued and Don answered:

"Your biggest problem should've been the fight with your best friends!"

"I'm aware of that, but... I don't know, okay?!"

*Ring, ring*

Charlie's phone interrupted the talk.

"Charlie Eppes."

No answer.

"Hello? Who's there?"

Then a voice Charlie knew was to hear.

"Charlie? Charlie, we need your help! Please-" It was the desperate voice of Amita. Panic gripped Charlie's heart. "A...Amita? What's wrong? Where are you? Is Larry with you?"

Too many questions filled Charlie's head. A different voice answered:

"Professor Eppes, I think you understand the importance of the situation. I have your friends and you have something I want. An exchange

is a good idea."

Charlie didn't know what the man was talking about. "What do you want? I don't know what you mean?"

There was silence. Then:

"I want you to erase all information about me, Owen Frankson, from the world. And I mean EVERYTHING: criminal records, birth certificate, and so on..."

Owen Frankson, the serial killer Don searched for.

"Who is it? What's wrong?", Don whispered.

But Charlie ignored it and thought extremly hard about an answer.

"You know... To erase everything will take some time. It's not that easy-"

The cold voice answered:

"Then you better hurry. I give you time until the day after tomorrow... or you're cute little friends will die."

Charlie could hear a shot and screams in the background. Then the call ended.

Charlie dropped the phone and stared into nothing.

"It was him... Owen Frankson."

"What?!", Don nearly yelled.

"He's got Amita and Larry. He will kill them if I don't erase everything about him until the day after tomorrow."

Don was as shocked as his brother, but tried to stay calm.

"Charlie... Can you do what he wants?"

Charlie looked desperate from the ground to Don and back to the the ground.

"I- I don't know, Don. I need a virus to delete everything, but normaly Amita is the best one in computer things."

"Then try to think of a way. We'll search for Frankson.", Don answered and searched for his team.

Meanwhile, in a dark and dirty warehouse, Amita and Larry tried to free themselves. They were bound together back to back. All ideas to untie them had failed.

"I just... It doesn't work!", Amita exclaimed desperate and gave up struggling. Larry sighed.

"I know..."

They both fell silent when they heard steps from the outside.

Owen Frankson, a tall and strong man, entered the warehouse together with the two men who had kidnapped Amita and Larry.

Slowly he stepped forwards, a gun in his hand.

"You two can be lucky that I didn't shoot you until now."

He pointed the gun at Amita's head.

Larry reacted immediately.

"Don't you dare to hurt her!"

Frankson raised up his hands and said sarcasticly:

"Whoa- I'm afraid."

He let down his hands before he continued:

"Tell me, Professor Fleinhardt, what would you do if I hurt her?"

Larry looked to the ground.

"I- ehm..." He didn't know what he would or even what he could do.

"You see? There's nothing you can do. It's all up to me. I decide if you live or die.", Frankson answered smiling down at them.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay... a short chapter, but I hope it's okay ;)

Chapter 3

"Guys, we've just got a new case. Well... Let's say Charlie got a case for us."

Don stood in front of his team.

"What's wrong, Don? You look worried about it.", David asked, trying to find out what this case was about.

"Owen Frankson is blackmailing Charlie. He kidnapped Larry and Amita."

Everyone exchanged worried looks.

"Well... What can we do for now?", Colby asked and stood up.

Don sighed. "We can still try to find Frankson with Charlie's plan."

The team nodded.

"Alright. David and Colby, you two drive to that warehouse that Charlie suspected as a hiding place. Nikki and Liz, you'll search for Frankson's house. We've got a tip that he lives in West L.A. I'll stay here and if he calls again, I'll locate his mobile phone."

So everyone, except for Don, left the FBI building. No one had realized the little bug under the table.

"Interesting. So, Professor Eppes found out about the ware house.", Frankson said and turned away from his computer to face Amita and Larry.

"I never believed that this magical math-tricks would help finding me. But now I guess we need a new hiding place."

Charlie was trying his best to create a virus. Before he did it, he copied all the data, so that it wouldn't get lost forever.

His phone rang again and he startled.

"Charlie Eppes.", he exclaimed.

"Professor Eppes, I've changed my plan. I want the virus and 500.000 dollars. Tomorrow."

That was too much for Charlie.

"I- I can't manage it until tomorrow. I need more time! Please!"

"I think your friends would be grateful if you create the virus until tomorrow. I can't guarantee that they'll be okay. And no tricks. Don't dare to copy the data."

Charlie got in panic, tears filled his eyes.

"I'll do what I can! Please don't hurt them!"

But Frankson just told Charlie the place where he should lie down the money and ended the call.

Don entered the room and saw that his brother was in panic.

"Charlie, what's wrong? Did he call you again?"

Charlie nodded.

"He... he told me that he wants the virus AND 500.000 dollars until tomorrow! I shall bring it to CalSci."

"Okay, Charlie. Don't worry. We... we'll get Frankson before tomorrow. David and Colby are already on their way to the warehouse that you've suspected.", Don tried to calm his little brother.

At the same time David and Colby stood in front of that warehouse.

"I'll go in from behind, you use this gate, 'kay?", Colby asked David.

David nodded and his partner disappeared behind the building.

Slowly the agent opened the gate.

He looked around, always ready to use his gun. No one was there.

In the middle of the hall stood a computer and two chairs.

David walked forward to take a closer look at the computer.

The screen was black. Suddenly a red text popped up saying:

"You're too late!"

"How did he knew...", David mumbled , but stopped when he heard a sound behind him.

He turned around and saw an armed man standing at the gate.

Fast David pointed his gun at the guy and yelled: "FBI! Put the gun dow-"

A shot fell.

Colby, who was on second floor of the warehouse, rushed down the stairs. What was going on down there?

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. I know I'm mean ^^'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

All Colby could see was a man leaving the building.

"FBI! Stay where you are!", he yelled and shot, but it was too late.

Colby's eyes scanned the room and his heart nearly stopped when he saw his partner lying on the floor, unconscious.

"David!"

Colby ran downstairs and felt David's pulse. Too fast...

His shirt was soaked in blood.

"Open your eyes. Hey man!", Colby tried to wake him.

Panic rose inside of him. Ambulance, the word that immediately came to his mind.

He took out his phone and dialed 911.

"Hello? This is Agent Colby Granger. My partner was shot. I need an ambulance, right now!"

Colby told the paramedics the adress and ended the call.

He saw the screen of the computer and cursed. They were too late, David got shot, the bad guy got away...how could it get worse?

He turned his attention back to his partner.

"David. Come on, don't do this to me. Wake up!"

Again he checked the pulse and his eyes widened. Now there was no beating anymore.

"Oh god. David? David, no! Wake up!" Colby started with resuscitation.

He just concentrated on David, he didn't even hear the ambulance arrive.

Soon two paramedics were at his side.

"Sir, sir... you can stop. We'll take care of him now."

Slowly Colby did what they told him and looked at his hands. David's blood was all over it. He felt sick... Looking at the blood of his partner and best friend was worse than everything else.

Colby sat there for a while, realizing what had happened.

The paramedics were already gone. It calmed the agent a bit to know that his friend was in hospital right now or maybe soon.

Finally his brain started to work again. He had to call Don, tell him what had happened.

He got out his phone and dialed Don's number.

"Don?"

Colby waited for an answer and then he continued: "Yeah... It's... it's me, Colby. Ehm... something happened."

He didn't want to tell his boss, but he had to.

"It's David. He's been shot. The guy who did it was able to flee. I'll drive to the hospital now. See ya there?"

Don said, that he would come there as soon as he could and they ended the call.

* * *

Don didn't even bother himself with asking if they had found Larry and Amita. Surely Colby would have told him.

Charlie looked at his brother with huge eyes.

"Wha- what's wrong, Don?"

"Ehm... listen, Charlie," Don started and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder, "They haven't found them. And David... David's been shot."

Charlie had to sit down. Clumsily he sat on a nearby chair.

"I'll drive to hospital now...", Don started, but his brother interupted him: "No, Don! Please stay with me. I- I can't manage it alone. I can't program the virus alone. I need you here."

"Charlie... I can't help you. And I need to know if David is okay."

Don didn't want to leave Charlie, but he didn't know how he could help his baby brother. This one had tears in his eyes. Still he nodded and said: "Okay... Go. I- I can do it."

"Thank you."

Don left and Charlie wanted to cry. It was all to much for him.

To be continued

A/N: I hope you like this chappie.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 I should have apologized

* * *

"Sit down! And stop crying, dammit!", Owen Frankson screamed at Amita. Her tears wouldn't stop streaming, she just couldn't control it.

"I-I... can't.", she sobbed and the angry Frankson pushed her to the ground.

"Shut up!"

He pointed his gun at her head. Amita's eyes widened and she panicked.

"No, no. I don't wanna die.", she yelled and shook her head.

"Then stop crying like a baby.", Owen ordered. In that moment the other men entered the room, together with Larry. The professor saw the gun and immediately reacted.

"Don't! Don't hurt her, please.", he begged, but Frankson just pulled the trigger. A shot fell.

* * *

Don found Colby at the hospital. He stood in front of the operating room and paced nervously.

"Hey, Colby. How is he?", Don asked and his partner closed his eyes and sighed.

"Don't know. He's still in surgery."

Don could see that Colby couldn't stand all this. And to be honest, neither could he.

Don laid a hand on Colby's shoulder.

"How about you? Are you alright?", he asked and Colby shrugged. He was not sure.

"I'm not sure. My partner is in surgery. Two of my friends were kidnapped, another friend is getting blackmailed with this. It's... it's pretty hard."

Don understood him. He felt the same way.

In that moment the doctor came out of the surgery room. Immediately Don and Colby turned their attention to him.

The doctor looked questioning at Don.

"And... you are?"

"Ehm... I'm Agent Don Eppes. I'm the leader of the team. Is David okay?", he introduced himself and then asked for how friend.

"The surgery went pretty well. We think that he has to stay a while, but he's going to be okay.", the doctor explained and Colby asked:

"Can we see him?"

The doctor shook his head.

"Not yet. Mr Sinclair needs to rest now. You can come back tomorrow."

It was like a punch in the face for Don and Colby. They wanted to see David right now and not tomorrow. But they couldn't do anything about it. So they left the hospital and drove back to the FBI. They found Charlie in the office. He was still working at the virus.

"I can't do this!" Charlie was at the end. He tried everything to stay calm, but it didn't work. The situation was to stressful.

"Charlie, calm down and concentrate.", Don tried, but Charlie jumped up and started pacing.

"Don! I can't calm down! The virus is nearly finished, but the 500 thousand dollars are the problem."

"Charlie, don't worry about the money. We already have it, okay? Just focus on the virus."

Don laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. This one sat down again. He had to program the virus right now. But then he got an idea.

"Don?"

"Mhh?"

"I think I know where Amita and Larry are."

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 I should have apologized

"I think I know where Amita and Larry are."

"What?", Don asked confused. What was his brother talking about? How could he know?

"But I'm not sure yet. Maybe we have to look under Frankson's surface... and inside his mind."

Charlie pointed at the table and Don looked under it. A bug! Damn it! Charlie took his pen and wrote something on the board. The text said:

'I found it while I worked, but I have a plan. I can trace the signal of the bug and find out about the place. Let's just talk about different things.'

Don nodded and Charlie continued talking:

"I think that they are at the same warehouse like before. Frankson planned everything."

Charlie worked at the computer and after a few minutes he had tracked the real hiding place.

Don saw it and left the room. Frankson shouldn't hear about it. Don dialed Colby's number.

"Colby. We've found the new hiding place. Can you come there? I'll take a SWAT team with me and I'll be there in 20 minutes."

("I... I'm on my way. See ya there.")

Colby sounded depressive. And Don felt a sad tension.

"How's David?", he asked.

("I still couldn't see him. Anyway... Amita and Larry are important now. Where is the hiding place?")

Don told his partner the address and ended the call.

"I should have apologized."

Charlie stood behind his brother, tears in his eyes. Don sighed.

"And you'll get the chance. I'll bring them home."

* * *

There was blood. There was so much blood. Amita gasped.

"L...Larry."

He stood in front of her... and fell on his knees. Amita leaned over him. Her eyes widened as she saw the huge hole in his stomach. Larry breathed shallowly. It really hurt, but Amita was safe. That was important.

"I- I'm fine, my dear. Don't worry."

Larry tried to sit up, but it hurt too much. He laid down again.

Frankson stared at them. What had happened just now? How could that man be so loyal? He didn't understood.

"You shouldn't have done that, Dr. Fleinhardt. Protecting her just hurt you."

Larry glanced furiously at him.

"I told you not to hurt Amita. I don't care about myself. Protecting my friend is more important."

,,Then it's your own fault if you die.", Frankson answered and left the room.

Amita didn't know what to do. She was in shock. Larry had sacrificed himself for her... that was too much. She knew that she would be dead if Larry wouldn't have protected her.

"That man is a disgrace. How could a person be so impolite?", Larry railed about their kidnapper. Amita didn't answer so Larry looked at her confused.

"Amita? What's wrong?"

"Are you serious, Larry? You're bleeding... You... you could die.", Amita exclaimed with tears in her eyes. How could Larry act like nothing happened?

"Don't think about the worst case scenario, okay? I'm going to be okay.", Larry said. He smiled softly and wiped away his friend's tears. But to be honest, he wasn't sure about it. The wound burned and hurt like hell and he would probably lose conscious soon. But for now he had to stay awake for Amita.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 I should have apologized

A/N: Thanks for the new review. So this is the last chapter. Thank you for reading. Here we go.

Chapter 7

Don stood, together with Colby, in front of the hiding place; another warehouse. He signalized the SWAT-team to go around and then he opened the door, always ready to shoot. Colby followed him. No one was there.

"Dammit!", Don cursed quiet. Where were Amita and Larry? Was Charlie wrong about the place? No... that couldn't be. Charlie was always right, there was no way he could have failed this time... It was too important. Don looked around. And finally Colby saw something.

"Don.", he whispered and when named man looked at him he pointed at a door, probably leading to an extra room. Slowly the agents moved forward. They exchanged a short look before they kicked in the door.

"FBI!", Don yelled and lowered his gun when he had checked that none of the bad guys were there...

His eyes caught sight of Amita and Larry and he immediately ran to them and kneeled down.

"Larry..."

The professor had his eyes closed and didn't open them. He was unconscious. Don turned his attention to Amita. She stared at Larry with tears in her eyes and the agent focused on calming her.

"Amita. Come on, stand up."

Don laid Larry on the ground and helped Amita to stand up.

"Colby, get her out of here."

Colby did what Don told him and brought Amita outside. Meanwhile Don lifted Larry up and carried him out of the house. An ambulance was already there and Don let the paramedics take care of Larry and Amita.

The SWAT-team had caught Frankson and he was brought to a police car. Don slowly walked to the car and looked down at the man who had kidnapped his friends and blackmailed his brother. Owen just smiled at him, an evil smile.

"It's not over yet, Agent Eppes. I'll soon be free and you can't do anything about it."

"Think so? You'll regret what you've done. I hope you'll never get out of prison.", Don just answered and closed the door. Frankson would never hurt them again, Don would protect his family and friends.

Don watched how the car drove away and then he got our his phone and dialed Charlie's number.

"Charlie? We caught Frankson and found Amita and Larry. You have to drive to hospital, okay?"

Charlie seemed frightened when he asked:

"Hospital? W...why?"

Don sighed. He had to tell Charlie about Larry, but it was not easy.

"Ehm... Larry was shot, but he'll be okay. Don't worry. We'll meet at the hospital. Bye"

* * *

Charlie met Don on the hallway and immediately asked about Larry and Amita. His brother just smiled at him. He had good news.

"Amita and Colby are with Larry and David. Larry's surgery went well and David woke up. Everything's alright now."

Don and Charlie entered the room. Charlie was relieved when he saw Amita and Larry. Charlie just hugged his friends... and told them what he needed to say: "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have insulted you, Larry. I shouldn't have said that the plan is bad, Amita. I was so worried about you. Please forgive me."

Amita and Larry exchanged a smile and just nodded.

"Of course we forgive you. We love you, Charlie."

"And I love you."

Everything would be okay... fortunately.

The end


End file.
